Journey of a Lifetime
by jasmineblossom
Summary: Some people say that for every decision we make, every choice, a whole other universe is created. This story is one of parallel universes, where the choice of one woman impacts the lives of several, changing an entire course of events. Come along, for t
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue:**

"There is no one reality. Each of us lives in a separate universe. Reality in a dynamic universe is non-objective. Consciousness is the only reality."

-M.R. Franks, _The Universe and Multiple Reality_

Some people say that for every decision we make, every choice, a whole other universe is created. Whether it is to put butter or jam on our toast, or to wear the green or white shirt today. For every choice, there exists another universe where you made the other choice.

A universe where only one photon differs might set in motion a chain of events which ends up destroying Earth.

This story is one of parallel universes, where the choice of one woman impacts the lives of several, changing an entire course of events. Come along, for the journey of a lifetime.

**Chapter 1**

19 year old Courtney Matthews was getting ready for the plane to Port Charles, New York. She could feel a little flutter of excitement in the pit of her stomach. She had never been anywhere out of Atlantic City before. She could barely afford the flight, but her mom had just disappeared. Janine had said that she was going to some place called Port Charles, but she had also said that she would be back in a week. It had now been two months with no sign of Janine. No phone calls, no emails, no anything. Courtney was starting to get really worried. Sure Janine had done this before, but she had never been gone longer than a month. Courtney had used the spare money that Janine had left her to pay for the plane ticket. She looked at clock on the cracked, yellowing wall. _Uh oh, _she thought. It's almost time for the flight.

She threw the last thing into her suitcase, sitting on it to force it to close. She dragged it off the bed, to the elevator and down to the lobby of the hotel that she and her mom lived in. She waved down the taxi and, taking one last look at her surroundings, got into the cab.

Courtney was lost in her own thoughts, pondering how Port Charles was going to be, when all of a sudden, a sputtering sound brought her out of her reverie. "What's that sound?" she asked the driver.

"Oh, it's no big deal, ma'am, it does this all the time. Don't worry, I'll get you to the airport on time." He smiled and winked at her in the rearview mirror. Courtney leaned back, into the ripped blue leather of the seat, held together with a strip of duct tape, reassured.

Five minutes later, she was standing outside, in the middle of the road, pacing. The taxi had broken down. She looked at the hot smoke emanating from the engine of the cab in despair. She was starting to get desperate. There wasn't a cab in sight, and she _needed _to get to the airport on time. _Ugh! Why do things like this always happen to me? _The cars were lined up bumper to bumper, the blaring horns too loud for this time of day. _But then again, _Courtney reminded herself, _this was Atlantic City. It was like this 24 hours a day. _She looked at her watch again. Ten minutes. Ten minutes till the plane to Port Charles takes off. _Great. Unless I find a cab in two seconds, there is no way I will be able to make this flight. _Just then, a car pulled up to her.

"Hey, looking for a ride?" _Huh? Was she imagining this? _She looked up to find a beat up old Volkswagen Beetle. She couldn't see the person sitting inside of it clearly, but she could tell that this car was old. Really old. Courtney hesitated for a moment. She didn't know this person at all, and his car looked like it fall apart if a person so much as breathed on it. But then again, this was her chance to make her flight. She was always complaining that she was unlucky, and here was her chance and she was thinking about turning it down?

"Hang on a sec, let me get my stuff." She ran to the cab, and lugged her suitcase out of the backseat. The guy chuckled as she lifted it on to her lap and she sat down in the dusty front seat. As he stepped on the accelerator, the car made a noise that sounded like a cat wailing. Courtney started, which made the man laugh again.

"Sorry, she does this all the time. I've had her for ten years, and she's yet to fail me," he said. "Yeah, that's what the taxi driver said too," Courtney mumbled under her breath.

"So, where to?"

"Atlantic City National Airport," Courtney replied, turning in her seat and looking at the stranger's face for the first time, as the car started rolling. He had thick black hair that was a bit long, and a slightly crooked nose. She liked that, the imperfection. It made him look more human. But the thing that got her were the eyes. The eyes were the a mixture of grey and green, and it was just something in them, something that screamed, _I've been hurt, I've seen the real world, I've experienced pain. _Never had she met someone whose eyes were so expressive. He looked just a few years older than her. She wanted to reach out and touch his face, wanted to ask him what he had seen, that made him so hurt.

"I'm Courtney by the way," she said.

"Zander, Zander Smith."

**Chapter 1(no this is not a typo, keep on reading.)**

19 year old Courtney Matthews was getting ready for the plane to Port Charles, New York. She could feel a little flutter of excitement in the pit of her stomach. She had never been anywhere out of Atlantic City before. She could barely afford the flight, but her mom had just disappeared. She knew that Janine said that she was going to some place called Port Charles, but she had also said that she would be back in a week. It had now been two months with no sign of Janine, no phone calls, no emails, no anything. And Courtney was starting to get really worried. Sure Janine had done this before, but she had never been gone longer than a month. Courtney had used the spare money that Janine had left her to pay for the plane ticket. She looked at clock on the cracked, yellowing wall. _Uh oh, _she thought. It's almost time for the flight.

She threw the last thing into her suitcase, sitting on it to force it to close. She dragged it off the bed, to the elevator and down to the lobby of the hotel that she and her mom lived in.

Courtney looked at the weather outside and sighed. She was going to miss this place. Hopefully, she would only be gone a short while. She looked at the money in her purse. Most of the money Janine had left her, she had used to buy the plane ticket. Now, all she had left was a few dollars. She could either get a cab, or use the bus. _Well, the bus is cheaper, and I might want to save up some money in case I want to buy a snack at the airport or something. Nowadays, all they give you on those stinking flights is a teeny bag of peanuts. _She went to the nearest bus stop, and a bus arrived in a couple of minutes. As it started rolling, she gazed out the huge windows, imagining what Port Charles was going to be like. The bus stopped with a jolt in front of the airport.

Courtney looked at her watch. 30 minutes. Perfect. She checked all her luggage in, and was sitting in the waiting area until the flight started boarding passengers. She had only sat down for 5 minutes when a small growl coming from her stomach reminded her that she hadn't had any breakfast. She counted her remaining money, and decided that she had just enough to buy something from the vending machine. She walked over, and contemplated if she should get the peanut M&Ms or the Snickers, and finally decided on the Snickers. She popped her change into the machine, already tasting the sweet, sticky taste of caramel, peanuts and chocolate melting in her mouth. She pushed the buttons, and waited, anticipating…nothing happened. _What? The stupid machine got stuck on me! Why do things like this always happen to me? Ugh! _

She heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her. "Umm, excuse me, but you look like you could use some help." She turned around.

Whoa. It felt like the world had stopped around her. Before her was the best looking man she had ever seen. He had dark, sandy blonde hair, and the most startling blue eyes she had ever seen. It was like she could see right through them into his soul, but at the same time, she felt like there was some barrier keeping her from entering.

"Ummm….yeah, uh yeah sure. Ummm…thanks." Her voice squeaked on that last word, and she silently berated herself for sounding like such an idiot. The man took out a pen and started poking at the little slit where you put the change in.

"It looks like the money is stuck. Give me a few minutes, and I'll have it fixed for you."

"Um, okay, thanks." Courtney's voice came out a little stronger this time, and she was grateful for it. While the man was working, she had a chance to observe him more. He was wearing a black business suit and light blue shirt underneath it. He didn't look too much older than her, maybe in the mid twenties. His hair was cut close to his head and he had the most finely chiseled features she had ever seen on a man. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she was afraid to open her mouth, thinking something stupid would come out.

She heard a clunk as her Snickers bar fell to the bottom of the vending machine.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem," the mysterious man replied back. He started walking away when it suddenly hit Courtney.

"Wait," she called out to the man. "We never got the chance to introduce ourselves. My name's Courtney Matthews."

"Jason Morgan," the man said, as he took her outstretched hand and shook it.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Okay, I got some explaining to do for those of you who are confused. Basically, there are two stories going on at the same time, one for when Courtney took the cab and one for when she didn't. It's basically how there are two completely different outcomes that branched off from one single decision.

Also, I know the whole Zander-Courtney thing seems really random, but I recently was watching some clips when Courtney first came to town, and she had a bunch of scenes together, and this sort of got me thinking, what if she had never met Jason, where would this have gone. Anyways, I thought it would be an interesting idea. Feedback is always appreciated, and criticism too, as long as it's not too harsh.

Oh yeah, and if this storyline seems vaguely familiar, its because it's loosely based off of Sliding Doors.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The Beetle pulled into the parking lot of the desolate airport. There were three minutes left till Courtney's plane took off, so almost before Zander had parked the car, Courtney jumped out, taking her suitcase with her. She started running towards the entrance. After a couple of seconds, she realized that Zander was following her.

"You know," she huffed in between breaths as she continued running, "You really don't need to accompany me to the airport. I'm a big girl, I can find my flight myself."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I have a flight of my own to catch," Zander said. It was then that Courtney saw that he had his own suitcase.

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, it's this little city in New York. Port Charles, you've probably never heard of it, have you?"

"Wow, this is truly weird. That's where I'm going too! Flight 12B?"

"Yup, Flight 12B."

As they dashed past the entrance and towards the gates, Courtney managed to get a glimpse of the clock. One minute. _There is no way in hell we are going to make it all the way to the other end of the airport in one minute,_ Courtney thought, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. _At least we didn't have any baggage that had to be checked in. _They finally reached the gate….just in time to see Flight 12B take off through the window.

Courtney dropped her suitcase with a thud. She just slumped down onto the floor, in the middle of the airport. _Great, what am I going to do now? I spent my last few dollars on that ticket. I can't even afford the bus. _She felt tears pricking painfully at her eyes. People started giving her weird glimpses as they whizzed by. Everyone seemed in a hurry today. She looked around for Zander. _Where did he disappear to, _she thought. She looked around and finally found him motioning to her, from the airport check in.

"Zander, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to get our tickets reimbursed."

"There is no way that they are going to give us our money back because _we _missed the flight!"

"You never know until you try," Zander said with a smile.

"Well, you're the one who is going to be trying, because I, for one, am all out of energy."

Zander shrugged and then walked over the counter, leaning his elbow on it, and putting his face up close to the woman behind the desk. She was an old lady, with bright pick lipstick, huge earrings, and these typical granny glasses with the beaded chain attached to keep them from falling off. Courtney saw Zander motion to her, and then the old lady lower her glasses to look at her too. What is going _on, _Courtney wondered.

In a couple of minutes, Zander walked towards her with the biggest grin she had ever seen. He stuck out two tickets.

"I couldn't get our money back, but I did manage to get us on the next flight to Port Charles. It's in an hour, so we have plenty of time"

Courtney was amazed. She really was on a lucky roll today. "How did you manage to do that?"

Zander's grin only got wider. "Oh, I might have told a little white lie… that you were pregnant and needed to get home as soon as possible so you could tell your parents for the holidays."

Courtney nearly choked from laughing so hard. "Oh my god, I can't believe you did that!" It was weird. She had only known Zander for a few hours, and already it felt like she had known him forever.

**Chapter 2**

After what seemed like forever, Courtney finally heard the magic words. "All passengers wishing to board the plane may now check in."

She rushed to hand her ticket to the ticket collector, and then nearly ran to find her seat. She loaded her suitcase and then closed her eyes, ready to relax.

"Hey there st

ranger," a voice called out to her. Courtney's eyes fluttered open. It was that guy, the one who had helped her with the vending machine, smiling down at her with a slightly amused look in his eye.

"Jason? What are you doing here?" She loved the way his name rolled off her tongue, like he was a close friend or something. Her hand automatically went to her hair, trying to fix any stray hairs. _Oh god, I hope I don't look too bad, _she thought.

"I don't know, I thought you would be happier to see me. I'm going to Port Charles, and I guess you are too."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as indignant. I was just surprised. You like the kind of guy who would be riding first class, or on a chartered plane."

"Yeah, my pilot couldn't make it at the last minute, so I was forced to ride domestic," he replied.

"Ha ha, very funny. Well, it looks like we're going to be each other's plane mates for the rest of the ride, so you might as well make yourself comfortable."

"So, tell me a little bit about yourself, Courtney. What brings you to the little town of Port Charles, New York. Family, vacation, what?"

"Okay, this is going to sound a little weird, but I'm looking for my mom. She said that she was going to Port Charles on business and that she would be back in a week. It's been two months and she isn't back yet." She knew she really shouldn't be telling all this stuff to a stranger, but once again, there was just something about his eyes that made her trust him. She felt like he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. It was the first time in her life that she had felt safe, that she felt like she could actually trust someone. And it turns out to be a complete stranger. The irony of life never failed to amuse her sometimes. It was true that she loved her mom, and she knew in her own way that Janine loved her back. But somehow, she never felt safe with her. Maybe it was because Janine sometimes left without telling Courtney where she was going or when she was going to be back. Or maybe it was because in her heart she knew that she couldn't depend on Janine, ever. She pushed these thoughts out of her mind, and focused on Jason, smiling.

"So, Mr. Nice Guy, I've told you the inner workings of my life. Now you tell me a little about yours. What do you do for a living?"

And then, bam, that wall, that solid wall, was up. The one she had caught a glimpse of at the vending machines. She could no longer read his feelings, see into his heart. She could tell that this was a subject he did _not_ want to discuss. So she changed the subject.

"Or are you so rich that you just don't have to work?" she teased.

She could practically see the wall lift. He was once again the light Jason, the one she felt she could trust to keep her most intimate secrets. He chuckled and replied, "Yeah, something like that."

After that, she made sure to keep the conversation light and not pry too deeply into his life. But of course, she made sure to guard her secrets too. There was something off with Jason Morgan, and until she found out what it was, she was not going to let him go.

* * *

Okay, I know that not that much happened in this chapter, but I promise that if you hang in there, the next one will be filled with much more stuff. 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Really quick, I just wanted to say, although at this point in the story, it may seem like Jason and Courtney are not going to happen, I promise you that they are. So all you Journey fans, hang in there :)

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Courtney anxiously tapped her fingers on the armrest, as she waited for the plane to take off. She wasn't exactly superstitious, but first the cab breaking down, and now missing the plane? It was like fate didn't want her to reach Port Charles. Plus, now that it actually boiled down to it, maybe she was just a _little _scared of flying.

"Nervous much?" Zander asked, jokingly from the seat next to her. Not only had he convinced the lady at the front desk to refund their tickets, but he also persuaded her to get them seats right next to each other.

"Well, it's just that I've never flown before. I mean, what if the plane crashes or something?"

"Okay, I think _someone_ is letting her imagination get ahead of itself," he said, just as the intercom announced that it was time for everyone to fasten their seatbelts. The plane started moving, slowly at first, and then faster. All of a sudden, it seemed like the land had tilted sideways, and then Courtney realized it wasn't the land, but the plane. She decided that she had had enough with looking out the window, and squeezed her eyes shut. After what seemed like forever, she finally opened them and took a peak out the window. Everywhere she looked, it was blue, a deep blue, with little wisps of white here and there where the clouds were. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. "Whoa," she whispered, breathless.

"Hey, do you think you could let go of my hand now? I think I've lost all feeling," Zander's voice came from what seemed like really far away.

"Huh?" Courtney asked, confused. She looked over at him, and realized that all this time, she had been clinging on to his hand for dear life. "Oh, sorry," she said, immediately dropping it. She could already feel the blush starting from the back of her neck up to the cheeks. _Why do I always blush so easily?_ she thought inwardly.

The flight was peaceful for a while. Night soon fell, the sky going black and the stars starting to glow, making the vision outside all the more beautiful. They got their food, which wasn't all that great, but the novelty of eating plane food for the first time was not lost on Courtney. Later that night, they played a movie, but Courtney lost attention within the first half hour. She opened a worn out copy of her favorite book, _The Great Gatsby, _and started to read it for what seemed like the 100th time. A few minutes later, she felt a small thump on her shoulder. She looked over to see that Zander had fallen asleep…on _her_. She pushed his head off as delicately as she could, but five minutes later, it was back on her shoulder again. She finally decided to just leave it there. Besides, he looked so cute when he was sleeping, like a little kid. She started to feel her eyelids get heavy as well, and before she could control herself, felt sleep pull her down into its soft world.

Courtney was awaken by the sound of screaming. She blinked her eyes several times for the fuzzy images in front of her to clear up. When they finally did, her heart nearly jumped into her throat. Standing at the front of the plane were three men, all very tall, very nervous, and holding guns. One of them held a gun to the head of a very frightened looking air hostess.

"Nobody move. This plane is under siege."

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The plane was tilting again. Two hours after they had left Atlantic City, it was finally landing at Port Charles Airport. As it slowed down and landed on the ground, Courtney couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. As long as they were on solid ground, she felt much safer. Next to her, Jason laughed.

"Let me guess, it's your first time flying."

"How did you know?" Courtney asked, surprised. "Am I that obvious?"

"No," Jason said, laughing again. "It's just, that's exactly how I felt the first time I flew."

Courtney smiled at him. Through the course of two hours, she and Jason had done nothing but talk. Well, _she_ had done nothing but talk. He had mostly listened. It was the first time anyone had actually cared what _she _had to say. She liked talking to him, even if he was hiding something from her. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Maybe the man just didn't like his job. Yeah, that must be it. She was just imagining things.

As the plane landed, and the passengers started getting off, Courtney felt a strange sensation. A feeling tugging at her heart strings. She didn't want to leave Jason. She wanted to keep on talking to him. _Should I give him my phone number?_ she thought. _But what if he turns out to be some kind of weirdo. I mean, you hardly know this guy. You don't even know what he does for a living. Do you really want to give him your phone number?_ As she looked at Jason again, she had a really hard time believing he was weirdo. _Okay, so maybe he's not a weirdo, but I should be careful. _Courtney made a rash decision then. She decided to leave it up to fate. Since it was fate that put her in the seat next to Jason, if she was truly meant to see him again, she would.

They walked out into the airport together, and finally, it was the moment Courtney had been dreading. It was time to say goodbye. Before she could say anything, Jason turned to her.

"Bye Courtney," he said sticking out his hand. "It was really nice talking to you." His eyes seemed to sparkle as she shook his hand.

"It was nice meeting you too, Jason. Who knows, maybe we'll see each other around town."

"Maybe," Jason said, as he started to walk off in one direction. Courtney stood there for a few seconds, looking at his retreating back, then went in the opposite direction, towards the pay phones. She dug through her purse, looking for the little card.

_Damn it, where is that stupid thing, _she wondered. In a few seconds, her fingers enclosed around what she was looking for. She pulled out the wrinkled, dirty business card out, and flipped it over, looking at the phone number she had scribbled on the back. It was the emergency phone number her mom had given her in case something happened. Courtney had tried it a couple of times before, at Atlantic City, after Janine had been gone well over two weeks. Both times she had gotten an answering machine. She didn't know why, maybe it was because she was feeling so lucky, but she decided to give the number one last try. She heard it ringing once, twice, three times. She was just about to hang up when a female voice on the other end went, "Hello?"

"Mom? It's me, Courtney. Mommy, I'm in Port Charles. I came to find you because I was worried. I mean, you said that you would be back in a week, and that was seven weeks ago, and I was starting to get worried that you weren't coming back, and…" She was cut off by Janine sighing.

"Honey, I told you I would be back. I mean, I know that I was a few weeks late, but I would have come home eventually. You really shouldn't be here, but now that you are, I guess I have a little explaining to do. Why don't you meet me at this address, and I'll tell you everything there?" She then proceeded to give Courtney the address of a penthouse at some Harborview Towers and then hung up.

Courtney checked her pockets. She had used the last of her change on that Snickers bar. _Damn, _she thought. _Now I have to walk all the way_. She asked someone for directions to Harborview Towers and realizing it wasn't too far from the airport, began to walk there.

She knocked on the heavy wooden doors, with the letters PH written in fancy golden letters. The door swung open on the second knock, and Courtney found herself staring straight into the big brown eyes of a dark man wearing a business suit and holding a glass of amber colored liquid.

"Yes, can I help you?" he asked. She had never seen brown eyes look so hard. They were so sharp, they were almost cutting into her. Courtney felt as if this man knew all her deepest secrets with just that one look.

"Umm…I'm Courtney Matthews. I'm looking for my mom, Janine." Her voice came out higher than she expected, making her sound like a scared little girl.

"Janine? Janine has a daughter?" The man raised an eyebrow. "Oh, come in. Where are my manners. So…Courtney is it? Why don't you make yourself comfortable on the couch while I call Janine? I'm Sonny Corinthos, by the way." The man flashed her the most dazzling smile, with two deep dimples glistening in his cheeks. What had she been scared of again? Giving it a second thought, Courtney decided there was nothing harsh about his eyes at all. In fact, they seemed to practically glow right now.

As soon as he finished talking, there was a knock on the door. He pulled it open, to reveal Janine standing on the other side. "Ahh, speak of the devil…" he said, quietly.

"Mom," Courtney said, jumping from the couch. She ran and hugged her mother, tightly. "I missed you so much."

"I know, baby, I'm sorry." Janine looked over at Sonny. "This was a bad idea to tell you to meet me here. Let's go," she said, grabbing her hand and starting to pull her towards the doors.

"Hold on a minute," the man said, holding up a hand. It was then that Courtney noticed the men. Three massive men blocking the door, dressed in business suits and each holding a small handgun that was barely visible. Why hadn't she noticed them before?

"You're not going anywhere, Janine. Not without explaining. You have a daughter? I think that's something you failed to mention at our last…meeting." The hard look was back in his eyes again, and there wasn't even a trace of the man who had been standing before Courtney a second ago, flashing his dimples.

"Mom, what's going on?" Courtney asked, confused. Janine ignored her question, and instead talked to Sonny.

"I don't have to answer anything, you gangster, you criminal!"

"How dare you come into my house and talk to my like this? You're lucky you're a woman, otherwise, I would have killed you already." He said this in a calm voice, not the least bit disturbed by the threat he had just made. It was the creepiest thing Courtney had even witnessed.

Just then, a man barged into the room. An old man, wearing a tee shirt, jacket, and old, worn out jeans. "Sonny, what's going on? Janine was with me, and all of a sudden, she had to go see you. I didn't know you two even…" he trailed off midsentence.

Courtney had to blink several times to make sure she wasn't imagining what was standing before her eyes.

"Daddy?" she said. She could already feel her eyes starting to fill with tears. "Daddy, is that really you?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"As long as you all do as we say, no one will get hurt," said the voice. The speaker, as well as the other two men, looked like they couldn't be more than 23 years old. His hands were trembling with fright.

Out of the corner of her eye, Courtney saw a man dressed in a business suit silently trying to call for help on his cell phone. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one. One of the hijackers caught sight of the man, and reaching him in four quick strides, stuck his gun to the man's head. The man froze. "Don't…don't make me use this," the hijacker said, stuttering, as he ripped the cell phone out of the man's hand. He came back to the front of the plane, and yelled, "Alright, everyone, turn their cell phones in!" He yelled it again, when no one listened. People slowly started to get up and make a pile of their cell phones.

Courtney breathed a silent breath of relief. Neither she nor Zander had cell phones. She looked over at Zander and saw him eyeing the hijackers. He looked like he was absorbing every little detail about them, from what clothes they were wearing, to their personality itself.

Several hours passed without a word uttered among anyone. The only conversation heard in the plane was that of the hijackers. They were silently mumbling amongst themselves, and occasionally, she caught words like, "so this is the plan," "how much money do we want?" and "he better have the drugs when we get there." She couldn't help wondering what would happen when they reached Port Charles. Actually, why hadn't they reached Port Charles yet? The flight was only supposed to be a few hours long, and already, they had been on the flight for much longer than that. She soon found out.

This time, it was the third hijacker who spoke. He was the only one who hadn't spoken a word to them. "In case you haven't figured it out by now, we are not going to go to your target destination, Port Charles. No, we are headed to a small town in Colombia. There, we'll drop you off…if you're good, that is. And don't bother about trying to call the cops on us once you get there, because by the time they find this location, we will have different names, different faces…we will be different people. Oh, and you might want to relax for a bit. This is going to be one looooong flight." He sniggered. Courtney could see a difference between him and the other two men. She hadn't noticed it at first. He was more confident, standing up straight, and not stuttering. He held his gun like he had used it many times before, in a relaxed, casual way, whereas the other two would hold their guns extremely tightly, as if they were afraid if they didn't, they would drop them. But his eyes. His eyes were empty, devoid of any emotion. There wasn't a wall, preventing people from getting in. There just wasn't anything there. Although his eyes were actually a light shade of brown, they seemed pitch black to Courtney. It didn't help that the man had a huge scar starting from his left cheek and stretching all the way across his eye to just above his eyebrow.

All of a sudden, she realized that his eyes were focusing on something. In fact, it seemed like he was looking right at her. She felt her skin prickle with goosebumps. _Why is he staring at me? _It was then that she noticed he wasn't looking at her, but at Zander, who was motioning to the man. _Oh my god, what is Zander doing? He's going to get himself killed. _

"Yes?" he sneered. "Is there anything that I can help you with to make you more…comfortable?"

"Actually, sir, I was wondering if I could use the bathroom. You know, when nature calls, you can't exactly prevent it," he said with a grin. Courtney's eyes nearly popped out of her head. He couldn't really be thinking about going to the bathroom at a time like this, could he? Her eyes met his. She knew as she saw the confidence in his eyes that he was up to something. _Oh god, please protect Zander, _she thought.

Courtney could see the hijacker contemplating what to do, sizing Zander up, deciding if he was a potential threat. He must have decided he wasn't, because he went over to one of his mates, who was sleeping, and kicked him. "Hey, go with this guy. Keep your gun on his back, and do NOT let him out of your sight, even for one second," he instructed. The man nodded, and did as he said, grabbing Zander by the collar, and walking him up to the front of the plane.

Ten minutes later, he still wasn't back. She looked towards the front of the plane. _He's taking an awfully long time, _she thought when she noticed him coming out…without the guard. _What's going on?_ she wondered. Then she saw that Zander was holding something, something black and shiny, in his right hand. He was holding the hijacker's gun. Before Courtney could blink, Zander had brought his hand down on the second hijacker's head, knocking him out with the gun. The third one was still sleeping, which was handy, because Zander quickly tied him up using the same rope they had used to tie up the air hostess. He dragged the other two men to the same place (he must have knocked out the first hijacker in the stall) and tied them up quickly too.

A million questions were racing through Courtney's head. _How did Zander know how to do all this? _She knew when she saw him in action, the ease, the comfort, the grace with which he moved, that this was not his first time he had been in this situation. And then the look on his face. His normally grey eyes seemed to become a muddled black color, similar to the one hijacker's. He had this look of utter hatred, like he had wanted to kill the man. She looked back at Zander. He was breathing hard, and sweating. The expression was still on his face, until he spotted Courtney staring at him with her mouth hanging open. She thought she saw something then, just for a second. That look of hurt that she had seen when she first met him. But when she looked again…nothing. Zander wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, the one that was holding the gun. He then walked into the cockpit. In a few seconds, an announcement came on over the intercom.

"Hello, this is your captain speaking. The hijackers that nearly seized our plane today have been put under control, thanks to this brave young man. They had impersonated staff on the flight, and soon after we took off, had tied both me and my co-pilot up. They were attempting to fly to Colombia to intercept a drug shipment and probably would have killed us all once they had reached there. Luckily for us, we were able to put them under control, or rather Zander here was able to. We are currently flying over Venezuela and are trying to make an emergency landing there. I am already in contact with the airport, and you all will be updated when there are any further advancements."

Zander walked out of the cockpit soon after that, and sat down next to Courtney. They were silent for the rest of the flight.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Daddy?" she said. She could already feel her eyes starting to fill with tears. "Daddy, is that really you?"

She ran towards him, and threw her arms around his neck, refusing to let go, until she felt his arms gently tugging hers down. She grudgingly let go. She was really confused. She looked at her mom, then her dad again. "What's going on guys? I thought Daddy was…I thought he was dead." She swallowed the lump in her throat. Her mom had told her that her dad had died when she was about 5 years old. It hadn't affected her then. It was as if, one day, her dad had just stopped coming around. But when she was a little older, and she would see the other girls playing or talking to their fathers, she couldn't help but wonder, _Did my daddy not love me enough? Why did he leave me? _Over time, she had gotten used to the fact that her dad was not ever going to come back, and she had learned to ignore that empty feeling in her heart, that place that would never be filled. But now…now he was standing before her eyes, a ghost that had risen from the dead.

"Honey, Courtney," Janine replied, stroking Courtney's hair, "Your dad…your dad was never dead. He just left. He took all my life savings, and blew them away gambling in one day. And then, he just left. I didn't want you to deal with the fact that your father was a lying, cheating scoundrel who abandoned you, so," she trailed off.

"So you told me that he died!" Courtney yelled, incredulous. "You don't have the right to decide that for me! And you," she turned to Mike, her father. "You were gone, how many years? Fourteen? And you couldn't even bother to lift up a phone and call me once?" Tears were streaming down her face freely now. She didn't even bother to wipe them away.

"Hold on now. Let's get a handle on our emotions," Sonny chimed in. Courtney whirled around to him.

"Who the hell are you to tell me what I should and should not do?"

"Courtney, Sonny's my son. That makes him your…your brother," Mike said hesitantly. Courtney let this sink in a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was calm.

"Is there anything else you haven't lied to me about, _dear _mother and father? Are you going to tell me next that I'm adopted? Or perhaps I have a long lost twin sister?" She spat these last words out.

She had had enough. After nineteen years of being left, abandoned and neglected, Courtney had finally had enough. She was out of there. She picked up her bag, and before anyone could stop her, headed out the door. She vaguely remembered a guard trying to block her, but she gave him a hard kick where it hurt the most, and as he slumped to the ground, she ran out the door.

She blindly hit the elevator down button, and when she reached the ground floor of Harborview Towers, she sailed out the front door. Not sure of where she was going, she let her feet lead her wherever they wanted. She started walking faster and faster, until she was jogging, and then sprinting. Her eyes were entirely filled with tears now, threatening to overflow at any second, and almost completely obstructing her vision.

All of a sudden, she collided hard into something, and felt her world tilt sideways for the second time that day, as she felt her body hit soft, damp grass. Courtney slowly rose to her feet, trying to rub the grass stains off her pants. _Damn, _she thought. _These were my favorite pants. _

She looked at her surroundings. She was in a park of some sort. It was filled with lush green grass, a beautiful playground and several kids playing with their parents. Looking at them only made her feel worse, and the tears that she had been holding back spilled across her pale cheeks. Finally, she looked over at what, or rather, who she had bumped into, as she realized that another person was sprawled on the ground too. A big man, who was now getting up and rubbing his forehead.

Courtney did a double take as she realized who it was. "Jason?" she said in awe. For some reason, Jason didn't seem nearly as surprised as she was.

"Hey Courtney. I knew we would be bumping into each other sooner or later. Port Charles is a _really _small town. Did you find your mom? Her name's Janine, right?" He grinned, but immediately dropped it when he noticed the state that she was in.

Just the mention of Janine threatened the deluge of tears to begin again. Courtney inhaled a jagged breath, not trusting herself to speak yet.

Jason gently touched her arm. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, peering down into her big blue eyes.

It was all Courtney could take. "Oh Jason," she exclaimed as she buried her face in his shirt.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Okay, sorry it took so long to update. FYI There is a little bit of explaining in this chapter, but I played around a little bit with the timelines and changed the history too. So don't be surprised if some of the information is different from the show.

**Chapter 5**

"It's time to fasten your seatbelts. The plane will be landing in approximately half an hour," the intercom announced.

The hijackers were still tied up, and different people took turns guarding them and making sure they didn't try anything. Zander still hadn't said anything, and frankly, Courtney was afraid to until the plane was safely on the ground and the hijackers were under arrest.

Soon, the plane started its downhill climb and Courtney felt this was even worse then take-off. This time, however, she didn't grab Zander's hand. She just held on tightly to the arm rests and told herself over and over that she would be fine. Finally, the wheels of the plane hit the ground, and they slowly halted to a stop. The police came in almost immediately and took the hijackers. Courtney let out her breath only when she saw the police car disappear out of the view of her window.

She curled and uncurled her toes, not realizing how cramped she had been through the whole flight. As she dragged her suitcase off the plane, to the small airport, she let out a gasp. The sight before her was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen. She had lived in Atlantic City most of her life, but it was nothing compared to this.

The sky was a shade of sapphire blue, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. A slight breeze ruffled her soft blonde hair, and a few palm trees waved gently in tune to the wind. She could see the smooth white sand a little bit away. She could already imagine running her toes through the silky feel of it, and dipping her feet in the clear, emerald water that seemed to be calling out to her.

All of a sudden, her worrying seemed silly. She was sure Zander had a perfectly good reason for acting the way he did. Who knows, maybe it was just pure, raw adrenaline.

She looked up at Zander for the first time since he sat down and gently smiled. When he caught her glance, he reluctantly smiled back. "Why don't we find some place to stay?" he asked her, taking her tiny hand in his. The action surprised her a little, but her hand seemed to fit perfectly in his, and she didn't want to pull it away.

He led her to the airport, and they called a few hotels, finally finding one where they could spend the night. They called a cab from there, with Zander paying since Courtney had run out of money a long time ago. When they went to register, they found out that the hotel had only one room left. The next nearest hotel was 7 miles away, and neither Zander nor Courtney wanted to get into _another _cab and then go to _another_ hotel. They decided to be mature adults and just have Zander sleep on the floor.

* * *

After taking a warm shower, Courtney felt clean and refreshed. When she came out of the shower, she found Zander sprawled on the bed watching the television. She looked out the window and thought again of the beautiful scenery. They had been lucky enough to get a beach side room, and she couldn't wait to go swimming later that day. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, and pulling a brush through her wet hair, Courtney finally thought it was the right time.

"Zander?" she paused, waiting. He turned the TV off, and lifted himself up so he was facing Courtney. "Zander, why did you…how did you know exactly what to do with those hijackers? I saw you and you just seemed so professional, so at ease."

Zander sighed as he ran his fingers through his thick black hair. "I knew you'd be asking this sooner or later," he said. "Long story short, my mother was an alcoholic, father left not long after I was born. I fell into some bad company as a teenager and got into the whole drugs thing. I was just digging myself deeper and deeper into this huge hole, and with each day, it was getting harder to climb out. One day, this guy offers me an out. It seems almost too good to be true. He paid me a lot of money, treated me good. Almost like a big brother. Unfortunately, it _was _too good to be true. Turns out he's a huge mob boss, weapons dealer, drugs, the works. He gave me all this training, how to strangle someone without leaving a trace of evidence, how to break in to a high security place. At first I made myself forget about it, saying "I'm used to it, this is what my entire life has been like." But one day, I just couldn't anymore. I looked at myself in the mirror and didn't recognize the person I saw there, the cold, feelingless person I had become. I couldn't take it anymore, but you can't exactly leave that kind of life, you know? So I ran, to Atlantic City. I'd been hiding out there for a while until things cooled down, and I finally decided that maybe it was time to come back again."

He looked at the small face before him. Courtney's eyes were wide, and she stared at him, unblinking, as if she was afraid that if she did, he would disappear. He laughed a little, a dry laugh. "Sorry, I know you didn't ask for my life history. I probably scared you, didn't I? I completely understand if you want to get a separate hotel room, or maybe leave my _wonderful_ presence all together…" He was cut off by Courtney placing her index finger over his lips. He stared at her, as she slowly brought her face closer to him. He noticed a light dusting of freckles over her little nose, and it made his heart thud even harder in his chest. She came even closer, and finally closed the little remaining gap between them, as she pressed her soft pink lips to his.

**Chapter 5**

Courtney breathed in deeply, inhaling the slight spring scent of detergent coming from Jason's soft cotton shirt. All of a sudden, she became aware of where she was and what she was doing. As she withdrew her face from his shirt, she could already feel a warm blush starting to rise from the back of her neck up to her cheeks.

"Umm, sorry," she mumbled, looking down at the ground. She wasn't quite ready to look at him yet.

Jason put his finger under her chin and lifted her face up to meet his eyes. "Hey, it's okay, don't worry about it," he said as he brushed a stray strand of blonde hair from her eye with the base of his thumb. "I know the difference between when someone's just having a bad day and when they're trying to take advantage of me." The grin that was on his lips grew even wider, and his eyes seemed to twinkle a bit. Courtney could feel her face turning even redder. _God, I must look like a tomato right now. _

"Why don't I buy you a soda, and we can sit down and talk. You don't have to tell me anything, just hang out until you feel a little better." Right now, that seemed like a great idea. Her stomach rumbled in agreement, surprising her. She hadn't realized that she was that hungry.

"I guess that's a definite yes to the soda, and why don't I maybe get you some food to go with it?" Jason asked. She put aside her embarrassment. After all, she was starving and broke and homeless, all in a matter of seconds.

"That would be great," she replied, smiling back up at him. He guided her to a hot dog stand and got her a hot dog with all the works. "Mmmm…dis ish the besht hot dog I've ever tashted!" she said, her mouth stuffed. Then she realized she was probably grossing Jason out by acting like such a pig, and quickly swallowed and looked up to see his reaction. Instead of a look of disgust, he actually seemed pretty pleased.

"Now, you're _my_ kind of girl," he said. It was his turn to blush now, having blurted out something before he had realized the implication of what he had just said: that Courtney was his girl. "Umm…I didn't mean..." Courtney cut him off, laughing.

After they had eaten, they walked around, just talking. It had been a long time since she had actually talked like this to anyone and they had actually listened. It turned out they had a lot in common. They both loved to read, although Jason admitted that not a lot of people knew that about him, because he had this certain "image" to keep up.

Courtney laughed at this. "Oh, I think I know what kind of image. The 'I'm a big tough guy that only watched football and drinks beer, right?" she asked. He chuckled a little bit when she said that. "Well, not exactly, but I guess close enough." They both couldn't really stand television that much, only watching it when they absolutely had nothing else to do. They even had the same taste in music, preferring the soft lull of classic rock over the head banging bands of today.

They would have kept on talking too, except they were interrupted by Jason's cell phone. He walked a few steps away, saying a few things, and then snapped it shut. "Courtney, I apologize for this, but I really have to go." Courtney felt a little sinking feeling in her stomach that surprised her a little. She couldn't believe she had already gotten so attached to someone she had known for a few minutes. It's just that it had been a _really _long time since she had met a genuinely nice guy, someone who actually listened to what she had to say instead of staring immediately at her "assets."

She watched Jason walk away, and finally took a good look around where she was. She had seen the playground before, but she hadn't realized just how pretty the rest of it was. The grass was a bright shade of green, and had little dew drops on it. It must have rained last night. She looked up at the sky and saw that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and that it was beautiful shade of blue.

And the more she thought about it, the more she thought, maybe she had overreacted just a _little _bit. She thought maybe she was ready to go back to Sonny's to maybe talk things over, if her parents were all still there. Wow, that talk with Jason had really put her in a good mood! Besides, she didn't really know any other places in Port Charles; she had stormed out before she could ask where her mom was staying. And she definitely couldn't continue to sit on this park bench much longer. It was starting to get dark, and she did not want to get caught, by herself, in some park that she wasn't even familiar with.

She ambled back to Sonny's, and rung the doorbell. Then she rang it again. And again. _Come on, come on, why aren't you opening the door. _Courtney started to panic a little bit. _Where am I going to go if he's not here. _She glanced at the guards. They seemed to actually flatten themselves against the walls when they saw here. They had all seen what she had done to that one guard who had tried to take her on. She rung the doorbell one more time, and was just about to give up and turn around, when she heard the door swing open.

She turned around eagerly, and her jaw dropped open at the person standing at the entrance.

Jason's face was a reflection of Courtney's.

"Courtney? What are you doing here?"

* * *

Ok guys, I promise a Journey kiss in the next chapter. A hot Journey kiss. So all you Journey fans, hang in there. 


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